I’m nervous. Two minutes ago I weighed myself. 180 lbs. So why am I nervous? By BMI standards that means I’m very slightly overweight, but BMI is a very primitive and crude measurement. I’m not overweight – to the contrary I’m arguably in the best shape of my life. So why am I nervous?
I’m nervous because tomorrow morning I need to weight 174.9 or less, and that’s only the half of it. Why? Because I decided that I want to compete in a Brazilian Jiu Jitsu tournament taking place tomorrow. I think this would make me nervous under any circumstances, but this occasion has a couple of special considerations. For starters, I haven’t done any Jiu Jitsu in two months. I have, however, been working on strength and conditioning at a CrossFit gym here in Atlanta. Many people say that conditioning is the most important factor in competition. Still, two months is plenty of time to get rusty on my skills.
I’m also competing in the advanced division. It’s the right division for me, but it’s intimidating to know that you’re in the division with the best guys. The other circumstance is cutting the weight. I’ve done it before – in 2006 I competed at 168 lbs, but I had a little longer to get there and I was a little smarter about it. With things the way they are now, I’m going to have to wake up and put on a sauna suit for 30-60 minutes while working out.
If you’re not familiar, a sauna suit (pictured above) is made of plastic and promotes sweating. It’s actually not that traumatic for a person my size to sweat 5 lbs, but it is not pleasant either. As soon as I make weight I can go weigh in as early as 8 in the morning and then have a few hours to eat and rehydrate and prepare for the tournament.
I don’t have much in the way of expectations for the tournament. I’ve competed before and I have experienced winning and losing. Regardless of the outcome I know I will feel good for having done it and I will learn. So that’s all I’m hoping for tomorrow. It will be a nice bonus, of course, if I can win a match or two. Time will tell, for now… I’m nervous.